SAU’s Spring 2026 Commencement ceremonies will be held on Friday and Saturday, May 8th and 9th, <\/strong>in the W.T. Watson Athletic Center basketball gym.<\/p>\n There will be four <\/b>graduation ceremonies this spring, divided by college and degree level:<\/p>\n The ceremonies will also be livestreamed on the SAU Facebook page<\/a> for those unable to attend in person.<\/p>\n Graduates should arrive for check-in at the Auxiliary Gym at least one hour<\/u> before their ceremony begins. <\/strong>The easiest way to find the check-in area is to go <\/span>in the main entrance to the Watson facility and then follow the posted signs down the side hallway to make your way around to the auxiliary gym.<\/span><\/p>\n Graduation regalia (caps and gowns, plus hoods for master’s and doctoral students) will be available to pick up at the SAU Bookstore<\/a> during regular business hours beginning the week before graduation.<\/strong> You can also pick up your regalia at the check-in area in the Auxiliary Gym the day of the ceremony. If you would prefer to receive your regalia by mail, please contact the bookstore at (870) 235-4050 once the pickup period begins<\/strong>. The cost of shipping is $7.50. The cost of regalia is included in your graduation fee, and it will be yours to keep after the ceremony.<\/p>\n Only University-approved accessories, such as academic cords, stoles, and medallions from within academic disciplines, may be worn over regalia. Decorated caps are not permitted. Graduates will be asked to remove any unauthorized items. There is no dress code for attire beyond your regalia, but we suggest business casual or similar.<\/p>\n Grisham Photography<\/a> will be taking professional pictures during the ceremony. An envelope included in your regalia bag will provide instructions about purchasing these photographs.\u00a0Photography order envelopes can also be picked up and dropped off at the check-in table before the ceremony, or orders can be made by contacting Grisham Photography directly at (318) 539-3489 or j.grisham@hotmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Digital<\/strong> diplomas<\/strong> for all graduates will be available approximately 30-45 days after the ceremony. You will receive an email and text message from Parchment with a link to claim your digital diploma and confirm your mailing address for your physical diploma.<\/p>\n Physical<\/strong> diplomas<\/strong> will be printed and mailed via Parchment approximately 60-90 days after commencement.\u00a0<\/strong>If your address has changed since you applied for graduation, please send your updated address information to registrar@saumag.edu<\/a> to prevent any delay in receiving your diploma.<\/p>\n Please use our step-by-step guide on How to Apply for Graduation<\/a> in the new mySAU<\/a> student system.<\/p>\n The deadlines for graduation applications are as follows:<\/p>\n EVERY student who intends to graduate MUST apply for graduation, even if you do not plan to participate in the graduation ceremony!\u00a0We don\u2019t know you\u2019re ready to graduate if you don\u2019t tell us!!<\/u><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>This also includes students who have previously applied for an earlier semester graduation but been cancelled \u2013\u00a0you must also reapply. <\/b>Failure to apply for graduation may result in the receipt of your degree being postponed to a later semester.<\/span><\/p>\n Please also be aware that students are only eligible to walk in the graduation ceremony during the term when they are finishing their degree requirements<\/b>. Failure to apply for graduation during your final term will NOT allow you to walk in a later ceremony, and it may prevent you from walking in ANY ceremony if your application is not received by the final deadline listed above.<\/span><\/p>\n After graduation candidacy has been confirmed by the Registrar’s Office, all graduation candidates will be charged a graduation fee of $120,<\/strong> which covers the cost of regalia (cap and gown,\u00a0 plus hoods for master’s students), diploma cover, commemorative coin, diploma shipping and handling, engraved brick, and other expenses associated with the commencement ceremony and graduation process. Doctoral students will also be charged an additional doctoral graduation fee to cover the increased costs of doctoral regalia and larger-format diplomas. Candidates who apply after the regular deadlines listed above will also be charged a late fee of $50 in addition to the regular graduation fee.<\/strong> Graduation fees are nonrefundable, but will be carried forward to a future term if a candidate fails to graduate during expected term.<\/p>\n Please note that graduate certificate (non-degree) recipients do not participate in the commencement ceremony, and there is no graduation fee charged for completing a graduate certificate. Printed graduate certificates will be mailed to recipients approximately 30 to 45 days after end of the term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spring 2026 Commencement Date and Times SAU’s Spring 2026 Commencement ceremonies will be held on Friday and Saturday, May 8th and 9th, in the W.T. Watson Athletic Center basketball gym. There will be four graduation ceremonies this spring, divided by college and degree level: Friday May 8th 10:00am: College of Science & Engineering undergraduates (associate’s… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-4","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/registrar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/registrar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/registrar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/registrar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/registrar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/registrar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":969,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/registrar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions\/969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/registrar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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Regalia and Dress Considerations<\/h4>\n
Photography<\/h4>\n
Diplomas<\/h4>\n
How to Apply for Graduation<\/h2>\n
Graduation Application Deadlines and Fees<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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